The Giants found some keepers in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft last April but they didn’t finish the draft too well.  WR Hakeem Nicks (1st round, #29 overall) out of North Carolina made a huge impact for the Giants last season.  He played in 14 games in which he caught 47 passes for 790 yards (16.8 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  Nicks also carried the ball 2 times for 8 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also returned 1 kickoff for 16 yards.  Nicks has a huge upside as he could develop into one of the better receivers in the NFL down the road.  In the 2nd round (#45 overall) the Giants took LB Clint Sintim out of Virginia.  Sintim played in 11 games for the Giants last season and he made 20 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he had 1 sack.  OT William Beatty (2nd round, #60 overall) out of Connecticut played in all 16 games (4 starts) for the Giants as a rookie.  The 6′6″, 307 pound Beatty could develop into a full-time starter in the very near future for the Giants.  WR Ramses Barden (3rd round, #85 overall) out of Cal Poly only playing in 3 games for the Giants last season catching 1 pass for 16 yards.  TE Travis Beckum (3rd round, #100 overall) out of Wisconsin played in 15 games for the Giants last season in which he caught 8 passes for 55 yards (6.9 avg) and he also returned 1 kickoff for 3 yards.  RB Andre Brown out of North Carolina State (4th round, #129 overall) was on the Injured Reserve List the whole year.  QB Rhett Bomar (5th round, #151 overall) out of Sam Houston State stuck around last season but he didn’t play in any games for the Giants.  CB DeAndre Wright (6th round, #200 overall) out of New Mexico got cut by the Giants and signed by the Vikings but he didn’t play in any games for them.  CB Stoney Woodson (7th round, #238 overall) out South Carolina got cut by the Giants and picked up by the Buccaneers but he didn’t play at all for them last season.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B-

Rookie WR Hakeem Nicks missed part of the early season due to injury but he is making up for lost time.  He has caught 7 passes for 121 yards (17.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Nicks has pretty much already passed up Domenik Hixon who was a starter for the Giants last season.  He might even overtake Mario Manningham in the starting lineup but that might take him some time.  After all, Manningham has caught 20 passes for 342 yards (17.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs this season.  Nicks is the big, home run type WR that the Giants have not had since Plaxico Burress was out of jail and playing for them.

The Giants have placed rookie RB Andre Brown on the Injured Reserve List due to a ruptured Achilles Tendon.  Brown was a 4th round pick out of North Carolina State who was going to battle Danny Ware for the #3 RB job during the 2009 season.  But, both Brown and the Giants will have to wait until 2010 to see what he can do on the field.

The Giants selected William Beatty in the 2nd round but they will have to coach him up.  Both of Beatty’s parents are pastors which has made him into too nice of a guy.  It will be interesting to see if Coach Coughlin can get Beatty fired up enough to reach his potential in the NFL.  Beatty is 6′6″, 291 pounds so he could stand to add some bulk to his frame.  Beatty played in 38 games (34 starts) in his 4-year career at U Conn.  Beatty looks like he will be a developmental project for the Giants.

The Giants have drafted another pass rusher in outside linebacker Clint Sintim who could just make opposing QBs more nervous when playing them.  Sintim is 6′2″, 249 and he runs a 4.7 40.  Sintim played in 49 games (all starts) in his career at Virginia and he made 245 tackles, had 43 tackles for a loss, made 27 sacks and he broke up three passes.  Sintim should fit right in with the Giants’ aggressive, blitzing style of defense.